Messina Touring Group at 25: How The Promotion Company Behind Taylor Swift & Ed Sheeran Was ‘Built on Trust and Vision’
Billboard ·
Louis Messina says that “every artist we work for, we believe in.”
It started with just five acts.
Messina Touring Group (MTG) traces its roots to PACE Concerts, the Houston company that Louis Messina co-founded in 1975 with partner Allen Becker . They were rock’n’roll promoters, known for creating events like OzzFest alongside Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne .
But in the sweeping independent promoter buyouts of the 1990s that reshaped the modern touring business, PACE was acquired by Robert F.X. Sillerman ’s SFX Entertainment. When Sillerman sold SFX to Clear Channel Communications, and then Clear Channel’s entertainment division evolved into mega-promoter Live Nation, Messina chose to jump off that corporate merry-go-round.
He was left with a noncompete agreement and just five artists: George Strait , Kenny Chesney , Tim McGraw , Faith Hill and The Chicks .
Once his two-year noncompete agreement was over, Messina entered a partnership with AEG Presents. In the 25 years since, MTG has grown to be one of the most enduring promotion companies within live music.
Perhaps the team’s most notable accomplishment in recent years is Taylor Swift ’s The Eras Tour, which spanned two years (2023-24) across five continents.
Messina first met Swift while she was still a teenager, staying with the artist throughout her touring career. The two were introduced by Strait, much like how most of Messina’s company was built.
“My company’s built on six degrees of George Strait,” Messina says. Strait had also led to Messina meeting Chesney and Eric Church . Through Swift, he met Ed Sheeran , Shawn Mendes and MTG’s latest signing, Phoebe Bridgers . “ The Lumineers are one of the only acts we work for that wasn’t associated with a tour we were already doing,” he adds.
Following the wrap of The Eras Tour, MTG continued its high-grossing years: Sheeran’s Mathematics Tour grossed $214.5 million in 2025, landing at No. 9 on Billboard ’s year-end Top Tours chart. Across the trek’s entire run from its launch in 2022, the tour grossed $875.7 million, selling 8.8 million tickets, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore.
(Sheeran’s most recent outing faced controversy. On Sept. 4 and 5, at Sheeran’s Loop Tour show at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, opening act Macklemore criticized Israel for its war in the Gaza Strip and declared “Free Palestine” during his set. On Sept. 14, MTG announced: “As the concert promoter for Ed Sheeran’s U.S. Loop Tour, we have been notified by venues on the upcoming U.S. tour dates that they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup, which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans. After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates.” Subsequently, Sheeran’s other opening acts — Aaron Rowe, FINNEAS , Lukas Graham and Sheeran’s backing band, Beoga — left the tour in solidarity. The Loop Tour continued and concluded Nov. 7 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.)
While MTG is the lead promoter for its North American dates, for The Eras Tour it extended its partnership with AEG on the run’s international dates. As the company’s artists expand globally, MTG is looking to build out its international presence.
For more than two decades, Messina has guided his domestic business with a team of veterans including president Mike Dugan , executive vps Kate DesEnfants McMahon and Rome McMahon and vp of finance Lauren Caire . But he has also nurtured the next generation of MTG’s leaders, including president of Nashville Haley McCollister , senior vp Sara Winter , vp of touring Keena Cheatham and vp Rachel Powers .
Messina’s leadership philosophy remains similar to how he approaches his artists, out-dreaming his teammates and believing in them. These days, Messina allows those at his company to find and advocate for their own artists to bring them into the fold — the latest addition to the MTG roster, Bridgers, who opened dates on The Eras Tour, is a prime example.
Messina looks back on 25 years and ahead to the future for MTG.
What were the key rock’n’roll takeaways you wanted to bring into country music?
Making shows events. I always believed, “How do we make perception bigger than reality? How do we move things that separate an artist from the rest of the pack?”
To us, it’s always been creating events. If it was the George Strait Country Music Festival, or OzzFest, or going back to my New Orleans days and the Bayou Boogie Festival — just creating the whole thing and moving the bar higher and higher.
Not only giving ourselves reachable goals, but how do we get the artists to believe in themselves even more than they already do? And how do we get their teams to believe more than they already do? And that’s what we try to do — talk about not just today but the next year and the year after and then the year after that.
We have to be passionate about an artist that we work for. And that artist and their team have to be passionate and believe in us, too. I’m not trying to work with every artist that comes down the pike; it’s got to be something we’re connected to.
It started with Strait. When I got into the touring business and with PACE — this was before we sold to SFX — I did the George Strait Country Music Festival and I did OzzFest. From the George Strait Country Music Festival, I met Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, The Chicks and Kenny Chesney. Going beyond that, I met Blake Shelton — who wasn’t on a country music festival.
Then I met Taylor Swift through George Strait. And from Taylor, Ed Sheeran and Shawn Mendes. We work for Phoebe Bridgers, and I met her when she opened for Taylor on The Eras Tour. I saw the magic that she had and the connection with her audience. So that’s how our evolution goes around here.
What had you learned from your experience with PACE Concerts that you applied to MTG?
Allen Becker, who was my partner I started PACE Concerts with — my best friend and mentor — [he] taught me a lot about business and a lot about believing in people. Through Allen’s teachings, I’ve always tried to do the right thing. I’m always honest as can be. I’m always telling the truth, and I play my hands with my cards face up. I’ve learned what business was like, what building personal relationships was about and building a business model based on the efforts you put in.
And always thinking ahead — Allen had the idea of building amphitheaters. [In the 1980s, PACE Concerts began building amphitheaters, or “sheds,” in major music cities including Nashville and Atlanta.] He was an innovator, and he taught me to be an innovator. He taught me so many business lessons, life lessons. I owe everything to Allen; he made me the man I am today. [Becker died in 2022 at age 90.]
What was it about AEG that you felt was the right partnership for your vision with MTG?
[PACE] sold to SFX, and then SFX sold to Clear Channel. And then I realized that was not the type of organization I wanted to be with, because it was all corporate.
Instead of doing the right thing, it was always doing things through power, intimidation and everything else I was against. It wasn’t having anything to do with passion and the love of the business — it was always maximizing, squeezing.
I realized this was not where I wanted to be. I had two years that I had a noncompete, where I was able to carve out five artists: George Strait, Tim [McGraw], Faith [Hill], The Chicks and Kenny Chesney.
When my two years were up, John Meglen and his partner, Paul Gongaware , were dear friends of mine for a long, long time. I knew them from the original Concerts West days.
John just left [after Sillerman sold SFX to Clear Channel] because he couldn’t stand working for a corporation like that.
I left after and was on my own. Then I ran into John and Paul in Los Angeles crossing the street. John introduced me to Tim [ Leiweke , then at AEG], who told me, “Come back in two years when you’re finished with your [noncompete agreement].”
In the meantime, I had my clients, so I wasn’t in a rush. Then, when my two years were up, I met with Tim and [AEG’s] Randy Phillips and we did a deal.
I didn’t want to deal with the infrastructure of accounting and legal. I didn’t want to give back everything I’d earned. I was looking for a little security blanket, too.
But I’ve been with AEG for 23 years now, and they’ve been great partners. We’re in our own lane and they don’t interfere.
What are you looking for in a new teammate when bringing someone into the fold?
The same thing when I get passionate about an artist. When someone gets to me, they’ve already been through the interview process. I’m always asking questions: “Where do you want to be in five years?” Just as I say to artists, “Tell me your dreams and I’ll out-dream you.” I’m looking for the same qualities in someone who’s working with us.
And — for the people that have already been here 25 years, 20 or 15 years — I’m looking for ones who believe in themselves and are dedicated and knowing they’re reliable and have a dream. They have a passion and an idea where they want to take their lives and their careers.
Because I don’t want to give anyone a job, I don’t want anyone saying, “This is my job.” I want them to say, “This is my career. This is my passion.” And it’s a lot different, because I want people to want to come to work every day. I want them to have this excitement. I want them to be in the front of the line when it’s time to take that glory picture and they’re involved.
What is your approach to developing young promoters, and what advice do you give them?
Do what you’re supposed to do. Don’t ever give up. Don’t ever take no for an answer. And, normally, I say, “a third or fourth or fifth no becomes a maybe.” You just always stay on your path and if something’s not working, then change the way you’re doing it. We never give up on a show, we never stop promoting. When the show’s doing a load out, that’s when we stop. But we just move forward, and that’s what we do.
How do you envision this next generation continuing your company and legacy?
They’re doing it. We’ve taken on Phoebe Bridgers, Ty Myers, Zac Brown . It goes back to empowerment, where anybody — Haley, Keena, Dugan — I can go down everybody that’s on our team. Everybody wants to grow with each other here. We have a bond within our team that is very similar to the bond we have with the artists we work for and their management companies.
It’s built on trust and vision. And it’s not the next generation, it’s the generation we’re in right now. I’ve already… I don’t want to say passed the torch, because I’m not. They’re just taking what they’ve earned. They have earned leadership. I just give people tools and let them run with it.
And they deliver, they flat out deliver. It’s as simple as that. They know that they’re doing the right thing for themselves, and the right thing for the artists and the right thing for the rest of their teammates. That’s the growth. The growth is believing in each other and growing with each other because we win together and we lose together.
How have you built relationships with your artists?
By letting them dream. I don’t want their dreams to be nightmares, I want their dreams to be something that they believe in themselves. I can point to the door, but I can’t go through the door. I can help move their imagination and think a little bigger than what they were thinking, just as I look at the people I work with here in this office, I believe in them.
When we get involved with an artist, [it’s] because we believe in them. Not because we’re going to make all this money. That’s not how we do it; we do it by seeing that artist and audience connection. By seeing that passion and work ethic that the artist has for themselves. And, when you put all that together, it’s magical and when we share our enthusiasm.
How is the team at MTG supporting artists?
Every artist we work for, we believe in — no matter if it’s George Strait, Taylor Swift or Ty Myers. We have to believe in them, and they have to believe in us. That’s how we operate.
Every artist has a team assigned to them. And that team is not working on five or 10 tours at the same time, they’re working on one. And they’re paying attention. It’s all about the relationship with the artist and the audience.
When an artist can assemble the proper team, they’re going to win. We help them believe in themselves, but we work for them. This is their talent. This is their work ethic. This is their imagination. We just help trigger all that stuff.
And it’s so rewarding. I’ve been with George over 35 years now, and he’s on top of the world. We’re still selling out stadiums. And look at Kenny — every artist we have, the longevity that we’ve had working for them and the growth they’ve had — because it’s their growth, not ours. We’re just reinforcing their ideas.
This story appears in the Nov. 7, 2026, issue of Billboard.